MUHOOZI Kainerugaba, son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, has apologised to Kenya following the controversy over his recent statements on social networking site Twitter that he could take Nairobi ‘in two weeks’, which led to his dismissal as head of the Army.
‘I have never had any problem with (William) Ruto,’ he said, referring to the current Kenyan president. ‘If I made a mistake at any time, I ask him to forgive me as a younger brother. God bless Africa,’ he said in a new message on Twitter.
Museveni, who hours after the controversy dismissed his son as head of the army and on Wednesday publicly apologised to Kenya for the statements of his son, decided however to promote him to the rank of general, something that was criticised by the opposition, which went so far as to call for a court martial against him.
In his messages, Kainerugaba described as ‘a big brother’ the former president Uhuru Kenyatta – who recently left office after serving the two mandates set by the Constitution – and regretted that he did not return to the polls, which could strain relations with the new authorities in Nairobi.
Subsequently, Museveni’s son continued to post messages on his Twitter account, where he spoke of a ‘revolution’ that Kenyans would ‘soon know about.’ ‘It would only take me and my Army two weeks to take Nairobi,’ he said, before asking, ‘where should I live once the (Ugandan) Army takes Nairobi.’
In the aftermath, the Ugandan government distanced itself from Kainerugaba’s statements and stressed that it ‘does not conduct its foreign policy and other official activities through social media or rely on social media feeds to address issues with other sovereign governments.’